Sword Art Online: Tale of Another
by Yojack87
Summary: Sword Art Online: Tale of Another is a completely separate story that tells the origins of a different set of characters. Anybody can read it. You do not need to watch/read the source material to understand. Meet Jack Star, an average sixteen-year-old living a normal life when, for his seventeenth birthday, his best friends decide to get him a birthday present. Sword Art Online.
1. Chapter 1

I could sense a voice calling out to me; it was the voice of a girl. She sounds as if she's in trouble. I try to help but for some reason, I can't. Out of nowhere, her voice instantly turns into a man's, "Jack!"

Horrified by the sudden change, I wake abruptly, yelling, "No!"

After carefully examining my surroundings, I came to the conclusion that I fell asleep during Math class. Once more, Mr. Johnson was standing over me, giving me the usual look. I feel my face turn slightly red as the class observes us.

"Yo! Mr. J, what's up?" Addressing him, I lay out my hand in an attempt to connect with him.

"If I catch you sleeping in my class again, it's detention." Frustrated, he declined my outreached hand, rotates toward the front of the class, and begins walking.

I retract my hand feeling spiteful. Having to pay him back, I rapidly brainstorm for a clever remark.

"Yes sir, Captain 2+2!" I retort as loudly as I could without missing a beat. Everyone in the class definitely heard me, but there was no response from anyone. They ignored me, just as they always do.

Mr. Johnson stops dead in his tracks. I hear him take a breath, then proceed walking. When he finally makes it to the front, he starts, "Now, after that brief interruption, to continue with the lesson. As I was saying-"

He ignored me too.

I throw my arms over my head, attempting to hide my face. Mr. Johnson and I have never really gotten along. In fact, nobody in the school seems to want to be around me, other than my three best friends, Ron, Alex, and Rick. I've been with them for some time.

Attempting to follow Mr. Johnson's math terms has proved to be unbearably boring for me. It usually results in me unconsciously falling asleep. Today was no exception. Only, right before passing out once again, I feel a tap on my shoulder. It jolted me awake. The tap came from the student behind me. I rotate my head around. She held out her hand. There's a note in it.

I whisper to her, "What's this?"

"Just take it. Unlike you, I'd like to pass this class." She said in an irritated tone.

Offended, I take the note, whispering to myself as I rotate my head back around.

"Sheesh."

I open it up discreetly so that Mr. Johnson won't notice. The note reads:

"Meet us on the roof after school. We've got something for you. -Ron, Rick, Alex"

The three of them sit in the back of the class, in contrast to me, who has to sit near the front due to "lack of participation." We pass notes all the time because of this distance.

Not understanding the note, I begin turning my head in the hopes of visual aid.

This motion came to a halt, however, when I hear an irritated voice say, "Don't you dare think of distracting me."

Unable to move due to the beast laying behind me, I rest my head down on my desk and stare at the clock right above Mr. Johnson. Patiently, I await the bell to release me from the prison that is this school. I start contemplating what the guys have for me on the roof. Is it some sort of gift? Maybe. All of us being friends for so long, I wouldn't be surprised. I met them back in middle school, after I moved here. Who would have predicted we would be this close? Although, once we graduated to High School, we needed a place to chill, in order to get away from everything. That's where the roof came into play. One day, when Alex was looking for some peace and quiet, he came across the stairway to the roof. An idea came to Rick, "Let's use the roof as our hang out!" Being the tech expert among us, he did some digging around on the school system. "The only person that goes up there is the janitor. It's perfect for us!" He told us.

It's been our spot ever since.

The bell catches me by surprise as I come back to earth.

"I will see all of you back here on Monday." I hear from Mr. Johnson.

Excited to go home, I see the entire class gather their things and quickly leave. Johnson also goes to sit back at his desk.

Confused, I think to myself; hold on. What day is it? I gaze to the board, which always has the correct date. The day is Friday, November 4th, 2022.

"Oh! I get it now! How could I forget? I'm so stupid!" Now, I understand exactly what the guys want to give me.

Interrupting, Rick invites me, "Come on. What are you waiting for?"

Rick stands next to my desk, holding his hand out with a smile, while Alex and Ron wait for me at the classroom door.

I take Ricks hand and reply, "Nothing. Absolutely Nothing."


	2. Chapter 2: Surprise

After sneaking past some teachers, we quickly make our way up to the roof. Rick unlocks the door with a key he pick-pocketed from the janitor awhile back. The four of us arrive with no trouble. Alex walks over to the edge of the roof and begins reading a manga on his phone. I can tell because he never stops reading them unless it's for something important. I follow Ron and Rick, who have been mysteriously quiet the whole way up here. I'm used to Alex being the quiet one, not those two buffoons. They stop in the middle of the roof, giggling.

Ron turns around with a big smile. "We have a surprise for you."

Rick also turns around with a big smile, only, with something in his hand. He moseys over to give it to me. It's a wrapped item. I gladly take it.

I smile along with them. "You guys have horrible poker faces, you know, except you Alex." I lean to the side, looking at Alex. "I can't tell if you're in on this or not."

Alex gave a wave without moving his eyes away from his phone. It usually means to leave him to himself.

I lean back, facing Rick. "I know this is a birthday gift, you don't have to hide it."

Rick answers, pretending to be surprised. "What? No. Maybe. Okay, yes. Whatever, just open it already."

I peer over Ricks shoulder to find Ron pumped to see me open the present. He obviously knows what it is, otherwise he'd want to open it for me. I can't help but wonder what they got me. Unable to contain my excitement any longer, I quickly begin tearing off the wrapping. Before I knew it, all that was left was a game.

I read the title out loud. "Sword Art Online." The name strikes a familiar note in my mind. "I think I've heard of this somewhere."

"You should have, it's the biggest game on the market right now, and do you know why?" Rick asks me in a strange way.

"No, why?" From the way Rick said that, I'm almost scared to find out.

"First, take a peek at the back. Then, I'll answer any questions you have." He urges me.

I flip the game case over and skim through some of the text. "Aincrad, World of Swords...Worlds first VRMMORPG...Unlike other MMO's or RPG's, Sword Art Online doesn't contain Magic...Combined with the NerveGear, you can experience a game like no other..."

Confused, I shake my head at Rick, indicating that I'm lost. "What's this Aincrad? What do the letters stand for? What is NerveGear? How does all ths contribute to the game being so big?"

"I suppose I should start with Aincard." He whispers to himself before taking a deep breath. "Aincrad is the world in which Sword Art Online takes place. It's a giant castle floating in the sky. Though, you won't notice this while inside the game."

"Did you say, "inside the game?"

"Now you're interested, aren't you? Yes, I did say inside the game. I'll get to that soon, but first, the letters. Altogether VRMMORPG stands for, Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game. I know a mouthful, right? As for MMO and RPG, you can apply them to VRMMORPG, they stand for he same thing."

"That's not the only mouthful around here!" Ron gives his perverted input while laughing hysterically.

Rick lightly punches him in the arm. "Dammit Ron! I'm trying to be serious here." I could tell Rick was trying not to laugh along with Ron.

Still laughing, Ron apologizes. "Sorry dude, couldn't help it." He wiped a tear from his eye. "Go ahead, you can continue."

"Jeez, where was I? Oh, that's right! I was going to explain the reason Sword Art Online is such a popular game before "somebody" rudely interrupted me." He gave Ron a dirty glare. "Before I go on, have you figured it out yet?" I think for a moment, then shake my head. "Still don't get it? That's okay, that's why I'm here. You see, virtual reality is the answer. Remember just a second ago, when I mentioned entering a game?"

"Oh yeah. So what you're saying is this 'virtual reality' allows me to go inside of Sword Art Online, or something like that right?"

"Exactly. This is where the NerveGear comes into play. You see, the NerveGear is a special helmet that utilizes this technology by stimulating the five senses," I see Ron begin to open his mouth. "and I swear if Ron says anything related to stimulating senses, I'm going to hit him." Ron closes his mouth. "Sword Art Online cannot be played without it. Luckily, I've already installed it and everything else you'll need, in your room by your bed. All you have to do is calibrate it sometime before you start."

Holding Sword Art Online in my right hand, I put my free hand on Rick's shoulder. "Thanks man, really, but, I never thought I'd say this to another man, when did you sneak into my house without me noticing?"

He brushes my hand off him. "Remember, I showed up late to Mr. Johnson's class? Well, after you left your house this morning, I took it upon myself to sneak in and install it."

"Nobody cares about your secret life, Rick! We're here to talk about SAO!" An energetic Ron jumps back into the conversation.

Rick, taking offense to that, immediately shoots back with, "At least I have a life, lover boy. When's the last time you actually got a girl?" The two of them stared an intense stare. Ron then whispered something to Rick that was clearly bad. How did I know it was bad? Because of what came next. "That's it!" Rick tackled Ron and in a moment, they were wrestling. They rolled all over the roof, arguing over every petty remark that's thrown. This doesn't surprise me. They've always been like this. It's their thing. I'm more curious what Ron meant by SAO.

"Alex! Could you come over here?" I call Alex over from the corner he secluded himself in. Not replying in any way, he begins walking towards me. He steps over the bickering rivals that blocked his path. Face glued to phone, he stands in front of me. "I just wanted to-"

He stops me mid-sentence. "Shush!"

I quickly close my mouth and stand speechless, listening to the sounds of Ron and Ricks tussle. The last time they got into an argument like this, it went on for hours. Ron started that one with a comment about Rick's mom. It was pretty funny now that I think about it.

"SAO is an acronym for Sword Art Online." Alex conceals his phone. I presume he finished his manga.

Completely stunned, I ask, "How did you know what I was going to say?"

He relays his response with a smirk. "I overheard Ron say SAO. I figured you wouldn't catch on. I mean everybody knows how slow you are to these things." He gives a slight laugh. I'm not sure if I should take that as an insult, or not. He resumes talking, "I can tell those two fools haven't finished informing you of everything needed to understand and play SAO. While their goofing around, allow me to take on the job of enlightening you."

I glance behind Alex to find them still going at it. A sigh escapes my mouth as I look Alex straight in the eye. "Would you do so kindly?" He walks over to the very end of the roof and takes a seat, gesturing me to follow. I leave Ron and Rick to their fun and do exactly that.


	3. Chapter 3: Enlightened

Our feet dangle over the edge as we gaze over the horizon. The sun is shining ever so brightly, yet, the November cold easily overtakes any heat given to us by the star.

Alex breaks the silence. "Before I get into SAO, I want to ask if you feel the same as I. Do you feel like you don't belong in this world? As if you're just idling your life by?" He stares to the sky.

I've never seen that look in Alex's eyes before. I come to the realization, he's not joking. He has always been so, quiet and enclosed. I never would have guessed he would ask something so philosophical. I should probably open up as well.

"I've never really thought about that kind of stuff. I guess you could say I'm oblivious to some things." I scratch the back of my head, chuckling. "Don't belong? Well, I don't really know about that but, I do know somewhere I do belong, together with my three bros." I lightly punch Alex in the arm. "Without you guys, I'd be alone. I mean, nobody talks to me, it's like they think I have a disease or something!" I punch the ground with more force than I had wanted to. I play it off as if it didn't hurt. "Even my Mom and Sister avoid me! Though, at least they have a reason. You see, I remind them a great deal of my Dad. He left us not too long ago. Sometimes I wish I could just escape all this." I look to the sky along with Alex.

There's a hand on my shoulder, Alex's. "I too, have a life I would like to escape from. Sword Art Online can help us both in that manner." He takes his hand back and continues, "That leads me back to the task at hand; getting you up to speed with the rest of us."

Puzzled, I question Alex, "The rest of us? Are you implying that you, Ron, and Rick are playing SAO as well?"

He acts surprised, widening his eyes, "Well, you might be faster than I thought, Jack. Yes, we will be inside of SAO with you. You can thank Rick for that. Though, I'm not big on the games; He can be a very persuasive guy at times. Winning me over with the whole "Virtual Reality" gig. Just think, a game where you control everything with your mind. A game in which nothing is forbidden, and everything is permitted." Alex looks back to the sky with high expectations. I give a subtle cough, as if to bring his mind back from dreamland. He glances over to me, snapped out of his trance. "I got sidetracked again, didn't I?"

Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I sarcastically state, "No. You were just telling me the wonders of SAO."

A straight face shot across him. "Okay look, I know sarcasm when I see it Jack, but no more. I am going to get right to the point, the reason why we're here. This is going to be a lot, so try not to overload." I give my undivided attention, as he stops to take a pause before continuing. "As I stated earlier, Ron, Rick and I, will be joining you, inside of the game. What I failed to mention was how rare this game actually is. It's not even out to the public yet. Though, that day is tomorrow. Fortunately for us, we don't have to wait days in line like other gamers. This is because we already have our copies. But, how can that be, if the release date is tomorrow? I myself, don't know the whole story. What I do know is we should be thankful to Rick, for his "connections" as a Beta Tester. A Beta Tester is basically a person that tests the prototype of a game, before it's released to the public. There are two types of Beta Tests. Closed Beta is where only a certain number of people can test. Open Beta is where anyone can test. Sometimes, during a closed Beta, the testers are given the opportunity to preorder the game. That's where Rick got his copy. Roughly, 100,000 people volunteered to be apart of SAO's Beta, only 1,000 were chosen. How Rick was lucky enough to be picked, is beyond me. Us however, we weren't that lucky. Although, we were lucky enough to obtain three of the 10,000 hard copies printed. Also, ordering a hard copy online is useless because of them selling out in seconds; The reason so many are in line right now. I expect a large amount of players in SAO by next spring due to the overwhelming number of NerveGears sold. Last but not least, the first SAO server goes up Sunday at exactly 1:00pm. That means, until this time, nobody can log on, including the Beta Testers. Let's see, did I forget anything else?" He thinks to himself for a moment, "No. That seems to be it. Did you get all of that?"

I nod my head and reply with, "Don't worry, I got it, I got it. By the way, how do you remember all this stuff?"

Alex gave a slick look and replied with, "When you've been reading manga most of your life, remembering things comes easy. Now, if you have any further questions you can take it up with Rick, he's a big fan of Akihiko Kayaba; The creator of NerveGear and Sword Art Online. I'm sure he knows even more than me."


	4. Chapter 4: Hallucination

Alex glances back to the sky, then quickly to his watch. I wonder what he could be worried about. Mimicking him, I glance to the sky as well, realizing that the sun illuminating ever so intensely, dissipated into the twilight.

He frantically yells, "I gotta go! I can't believe I lost track of time!" Alex gets up and runs towards the door leading inside of the school. Before entering, Alex shouts, "Next time I see you, we'll both be digital!" I give a wave to see him off, while slowly getting up myself.

Like a freight train disturbing a library, I overhear Ron, "We'll settle this in SAO! I'll humiliate you in front of all the other gamers!" Ron, beginning to laugh, doesn't seem to notice Rick get up off the ground and walk over to me. Ron's maniacal laughter starts to die down once he realizes Rick's no longer around him.

Rick begins speaking to me, "Sorry about that. I assume Alex was filling you in where I left off?"

I respond to Rick with a smile, "Don't worry. I got everything."

Rick gave a relieved sigh then replied, "That's good. Don't be late Sunday. I don't want to beat the game before you even get a chance." Rick gives a wink, then laughs, "But really, message me once your in the game, ok? We might not recognize each other's avatar."

I nod to Rick as we both hear Ron, clearly feeling left out, stomp over to our position. He opens, "Anybody would recognize Rick's avatar. Just look for the dumbest looking one."

The palm of Ricks hand met his face. He questions Ron, "Tell me again why we're friends?"

Ron throw his arm around Rick's shoulder and gave a big smile, "Cause your life would be boring without me." I couldn't help but laugh and smile along with them. Suddenly I got a text. I open my phone and realize it's from Alex. It reads:

"Better find another way out of there. The Janitor's on his way there now."

As I relay the info to Rick, Ron interrupts with, "I know another way."

The next thing I knew, the three of us we're standing over the edge of the school looking down. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask concerned as we teeter over the edge.

"It'll be fine. I did this before. Sides, the Samson's pool is huge and this is only a two story building. What's the worst that can happen?"

Rick interjects, "We could die! Anyway, I'm a gamer, not a daredevil. I'm not doing this."

All of us hear the roof door open as Ron grabs us and exclaims, "Too late." I quickly realize, I forgot that I was still carrying SAO in my right hand. No time to think, I rush to shove the game inside of my backpack, knowing it's the best bet for surviving the fall into the water. I wouldn't want my birthday present to be ruined before I even have the chance to play it. You know, sometimes I wonder if Ron's a bad influence. Stuff like this always happens when he's around. I can't blame him. I mean it's not all bad, the air feels nice and Ricks face is priceless right now. His screaming and Ron's laughter is totally worth it.

After realizing we're not dead, we find ourselves alone at the Samson's. Panicking, I check my backpack to see if the game was undamaged; It was.

"They should buy a security system." Ron says sarcastically while giving unconscious Rick CPR. I make my way out of their backyard and into the street. Ron follows, with Rick on his back.

"Well, I'm gonna drop this guy off at his house, you?"

I answer, "I'm just going to head home." We wave to each other as we went our separate ways.

It was now rather dark and the flickering light posts weren't helping. I wander down the street, clearly disoriented. Somehow making it to my house, I find someone standing out in front. A small person wearing a hood. I can tell it's a female. I walk over to her.

"Excuse me, may I ask who you might be?" She stood, staring at the sky, ignoring me. Hoping she didn't hear me, I get in closer, waving my hand before her face, in an effort to not be missed again.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Saying that, I catch a glimpse of her face. Eyes brighter than any I've seen before; They shined an unforgettable emerald green. I stand speechless, unable to utter anything but the word, "Wow."

When I came to my senses she was gone. Darting side to side, I see nothing but an empty street. She couldn't have been a hallucination, right? The fall from the school must have messed with my head somehow.

"I'm going to bed."

I went inside and straight to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Calibration

Saturday seemed to fly by with the the only thing on my mind being SAO. Before I knew it, Sunday was upon me and it was almost time to log in.

"Only half an hour to go." I speak to myself, counting down the hours. I fall back, laying on my bed with my eyes closed. "Even after sleeping in, eating breakfast, and taking a shower, I still have some time left." I wonder if I forgot anything I need to do before entering SAO. Catching me off guard, the phone in my pocket starts vibrating as an annoying tone follows. I shriek loudly, tumbling off my bed and onto the floor. As my face gets acquainted with the ground, my dignity stands firm; I'm the only one in the house. The phone still ringing, I pull it out slowly, "Yeah, what is it?"

My sister, Piper, was on the line, "You know, just because Mom's out, doesn't mean you get to make all the noise you want!"

Piper's room is right next to mine. This means we can hear nearly everything going on in each others rooms.

Holding the phone at a safe distance, I answer, "Okay, okay, I get it. What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were with Mom?"

Hearing her take a deep breath, I move the phone in closer. Talking normally, she responds, "I came back early because, I got something to do at one. Don't bother me for a few hours, no matter what, okay?"

Just as she says that, I look towards my phone, something clicking in my head. I also catch sight of a paper under my bed. Reaching my arm out, I then retract it back with the paper in hand. It's the instructions for calibrating the NerveGear. Whispering to myself, "I knew I forgot something."

Continuing my talk with Piper, I instinctively reply to what she last said, "Yeah, yeah, I'll leave you alone. I also have something I need to do at one. Just out of curiosity, are you playing Sword Art Online too?"

Not getting a reply, I look at my phone to see if she was still on the line; She wasn't. Gripping the phone as if I'm trying to break it, a spark of anger strikes me. She hung up on me, I thought. Like water off a duck's back, I let it go. "Guess it's not that important anyway. I'll see her in the game eventually if she is playing. Now to get back to business."

With the instructions on hand, I sit back up on my bed.

"Calibrating the NerveGear."

Recommencing, I read aloud, in order to help myself understand.

"After the NerveGear is securely on the user's head, the user need only power up the NerveGear by pressing the one button on the back of the helmet. Once the user sees this phrase displayed on the interface, "Calibration," the user must lightly tap multiple parts of his or her body many times."

An image of someone demonstrating this accompanied the tutorial. Upon viewing the illustration, everything became clear to me. I cried out, "I get it now!"

Scanning the calibration guide, I realize I'm finished. "Wait, what's this down at the bottom?" Taking a look under the final words, I see a note left behind by Rick.

"I know your not going to have trouble with the calibration but you see, there's one more thing you need to know."

I whisper to myself, "Jeez, just how much preparation is needed to play this game?"

"Leave your body in a comfortable position such as your bed, then you may log in by stating the words, "Link Start," out loud. I'll see you in there!"

Finally ready for the calibration, I grab the NerveGear awaiting me on my nightstand, slide it onto my head and click the power button on the back. Sensing it power up, I wait for the word, "calibration," to show. As soon as it does, I lightly tap my arms, legs, and waist. All of a sudden, the Calibration word had a green check across on it. I knew I was done calibrating it.

Right then, I noticed a digital clock on interface. The time was, 12:58. I forcefully yell, "Where did the last half hour go?" Swiftly, I plop onto my back.

"Hope this game lives up to all the hype!" My heart starts to race as I watch the time on the NerveGear's interface countdown from 12:59 to 1:00.

Closing my eyes, I promptly say, "Link Start!"

Just then, as my body goes numb, I experience a sort of tunnel-like vision while, all these different colors came rushing towards me at high speeds. Very quickly, one at a time, five bubbles appeared, each of them representing one of the five senses. After all of them showed, "Confirmed" was before my eyes. This must be what Rick meant about "Stimulating the five senses."

Suddenly, there was a language confirmation screen. All I did was think, "Well English of course" and it switched to English.

It's all going by so fast.

Next up was, "Create an account." Figured I'd have to do this, it's at the beginning of most games. After choosing my Username, I made an avatar that resembled my real life look. Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would. Maybe, since it's all in my head, or maybe I'm rushing to get into the actual game. Either way, I'm done now.

Everything goes dark. I feel my heart pounding. This is what I've been waiting for.

"Welcome to Sword Art Online!"


End file.
